TCR Australia will not be revived in 2026 after all.
A lifeline for the hot-hatch category had emerged via a partnership between The Bend, Motorsport Australia and WSC Group, whereby a five-round series would be run exclusively in South Australia.
The Bend Motorsport Park was to host four of those five rounds, with a day/night Mallala meeting completing the calendar, while ex-British Racing and Sports Car Club event operations manager Charlotte White was named category manager.
However, communications had grown increasingly quiet in the lead-up to the March 20-22 opener, and it has now been confirmed to V8 Sleuth that the entire TCR Australia season has been cancelled.
That almost certainly marks the final nail in the coffin for a series that had debuted with so much promise in 2019.
TCR returned from a COVID hiatus still going relatively strong, but gradually faded to the point where there was just one Australian event last year – one that doubled as a stop on the World Tour schedule.
V8 Sleuth understands there are still some teams/drivers interested in running cars, but that most likely will now need to happen as a class within an existing category elsewhere, or in overseas TCR competitions.
Garry Rogers Motorsport director and former Australian Racing Group chief Barry Rogers last month lamented the fall of TCR.
“It is a shame, TCR, but in Australia it’s been said many a time: we keep bringing categories here but our population, we’re just not big enough for the amount of categories that are here,” he told V8 Sleuth.
“I suppose the thing with TCR is it’s quite different to anything else.
“If you look at Trans Am, if you look at Mustang Cup, they’re all tin-top V8 racing. It’s what Australians love.
“We tend to get curious about whether people will embrace other forms and we probably get sucked in occasionally.
“The fact is, I think it is pretty well proven now that if it hasn’t got a V8 in it, it really struggles in Australia.”